Sisters killed in fire are laid to rest side by side

The remains of the Brogan sisters who died tragically in a fire in Letterkenny on Friday morning being carried into the graveyard at Drumoghill. (DER0114PG081)

Published:16:43Updated:16:59Monday 06 January 2014

The two sisters who died in a Letterkenny house fire should be remembered for the difference they made, mourners at their funeral have been told.

The two sisters who died in a Letterkenny house fire should be remembered for the difference they made, mourners at their funeral have been told.

Hundreds of people attended the funeral of Jody and Angie Brogan in Letterkenny this morning.

Angie, a 27-year-old mother of three, and 28-year-old mother of one Jody, died after a fire at their home in Ceannain View in Letterkenny on Friday morning.

The girl’s father Frank lives in Claudy.

Many of the mourners gathered outside a packed St. Columba’s Church at Drumoghill for the Requiem Mass.

Fr. Brian Quinn asked those present to pray for their parents Frankie and Mary and their six siblings, Frankie, Conor, Christopher, Natasha, Kirstie and Orla, as well as their children.

He said their families and the whole community “are struggling to come to terms with the unspeakable loss”.

“I ask you today to remember Jody and Angie in you own lives,” he said. “Remember them as a daughter, a sister, a mother, a friend.

“Remember them as people who made a difference.

“Remember them not in the absolute hell of the house fire in Ceannan View but as they are now in heaven, peace and joy.”

He said the women’s families and friends would be left with a huge loss and huge emptiness in their hearts.

Their sister Natasha said the family would miss their laughs and jokes. She described them as “amazing sisters, daughters, mothers, aunties and friends”.

The two sisters were laid to rest together in the adjoining cemetery.

Speaking to the ‘Irish Star’ newspaper on Saturday Mr Brogan revealed that the girls’ family found out about the double tragedy on Facebook.

Recalling the last conversation he had with Jolene, he said: “She was on the phone to me last night and the last thing she said me was,‘I love you, Daddy’.

“I am just in shock. I went outside in the rain there, but I couldn’t feel a thing. We are a very close family.”

Mr Brogan revealed his utter devastation after hearing the news had broken on social media before there was time for police to inform the next-of-kin.

“I live in Claudy and my partner and I were on our way to Letterkenny when my sister-in-law rang. She said there had been a fire in my daughter’s house and it was up on Facebook that my daughters were killed in the fire. “

There has been widespread sympathy for the family across the North West in the wake of the double tragedy.